Emerald Spire 05.0 - Ismail
With the skeletons dispatched, the three moved to chase the fleeing Gorloth through the doorway he had run through. The room they found was one that they had seen on their first venture: the one filled with egg sacs. The door on the far side was ajar so the three ran as fast as they could through the webs, disturbing the fist-sized baby spiders but escaping without giving the time they needed to swarm over them. As they dashed through the main hallway, they made to give chase through another open door which they knew led to the web-choked room with the ladder leading down. As Kormon tried to step into the doorway however, a moon spider stepped out. The three fought the spider and killed it without too much difficulty. Turning their attentions back towards the web room, Marin and Kormon stepped inside. A second spider loomed above them, menacing with its arms, out of reach. At first they tried to burn some of the webbing back but Kormon felt a spell try and grip his mind. Shaking it off and fuming, he pulled back and Marin followed. A few tense seconds passed but nothing moved. Suddenly, the door slid slowly closed. Marin leapt forwards and shoved the door open, expecting to see the skeletal foe they chased but instead found a moon spider staring at him. The spider unsuccessfully tried to close the door again but couldn't overpower Marin; the arachnid instead backed away, crawling up the wall once more. Marin frowned but was still unwilling to enter the room. Stepping back, the three waited and eventually the door slid shut again. Eventually, a voice they recognized yelled to them through the closed door. Gorloth informed them that he had all of the doors to that hallway sealed and that they could just go ahead and starve to death. What followed was a shouted conversation of sorts between the four of them, where they learned that the undead had apparently an interest in the spiders as he was trying to compile an encyclopedia of all of Fierna's creatures: the moon spiders were quite intelligent and were wonderful beings. He did admit that he was extremely bored sitting on this floor though: he had long since finished his work with them but he couldn't leave seeing as how it was his job to stay there and guard the floor, preventing people from descending deeper into the ruins. Kormon poked at the gaps in his story and it became clear that there were huge discrepancies between what Gorloth wanted and what he seemed to be compelled to do for Zdislav. The humans jumped on this chance and tried to bargain with Gorloth for their freedom in exchange for helping him be freed of the cellars. He was slow to trust them and was still bound by the obviously-magical commands of Zdislav, but he eventually reasoned that he would be trapped here forever if something didn't change which meant that he couldn't finish his holy task for his goddess: a fate worse than mere death. The three humans could certainly destroy him if he let them out, but, conversely, if he let them die here, Zdislav would return in a few days for a report, as he always did, which must be when he refreshed the magic that compelled him to stay here with the moon spiders. Eventually, the three promised to help him by forcibly removing him from the cellars and keeping him bound until the compulsion wore off; then he'd be free to go, and they would be free to travel deeper into the spire. With no lack of begrudgement but little other hope of freedom, Gorloth took them up on their offer. He unsealed one of the doors, and let them free. True to their word, they tied up the skeleton, throwing him over their shoulders and taking him up the staircase and out the front door. He began to struggle as they left the confines of the cellars, repeating constantly that he needed to go back, but he was powerless to escape. The three took him back to Fort Inevitable, stuffing him in a bag to disguise him as they walked past the guarded gate. Once in the Red Shield Inn, they hid him in a closet and kept watch, waiting for him to stop struggling against the compulsion. It took several days of the three taking turns watching the closet until finally the rhythmic thumping stopped. When that happened, they opened the door and untied the skeleton, who was no longer thrashing to escape. Now free, he sullenly declared that he certainly no longer wanted to go back to the cellars. He reintroduced himself as Ismail: Zdislav had told him to change his name as 'Ismail' was not a fitting, intimidating name for an undead gate guard. Marin informed him that he was free to go as he would, but should probably leave town. Ismail claimed to know full well that he wasn't particularly welcome in 'vivan' towns, and would be leaving presently. However, he had a score to settle with Zdislav and Marin and Kormon were more than happy to have the cleric's assistance as they continued to delve into the Spire, where they would inevitably reach Zdislav's lair. Category:Emerald Spire